Kuching Pt 2 - Gunung Gading National Park

Ah the wonders of modern technology. In most of my drives around the Peninsular, maps have been the order of the day. On my bicycle ride I even mounted a map on my handlebar bag which helped me keep on course, never mind the fact that the map was not a very large scale and was proved to be erroneous on at least one occasion…

The car Adrian provided was their daughter’s Proton and it came with a Garmin GPS unit which was quite useful, but as we discovered, a little off at times too. More of that later.

Our first morning and we found our bag of packed lunch waiting for us on the front verandah around 7. We were going to the Gunung Gading National park for a spot of hiking and to look for the Rafflesia. We’d seen some in Perak a couple of years ago when we did a Northern Peninsular trip with Megan and Michael but this was a different species and anyway, it’s always fun to see something in the wild which is special and rare.

Getting to Gunung Gading involved crossing a river by car ferry and this was a little adventure. The ferry was much larger than any I’d been on except the Penang ferry - certainly many times the size of the winch-ferry I’d been on in Lahad Datu in the 80s. This one could hold maybe 10-12 vehicles and even trucks. We drove down a steep concrete ramp and up onto the steel deck then got out of our car - something the rules said we had to do but which the ‘regulars’ casually ignored. The crew didn’t seem too fussed either and when we paid the RM1 I had a short chat with them. Turns out there are really two ferries which are docked at opposite banks and depart at the same time, passing each other mid-river.

The river itself was not too wide and the crossing took just a few minutes. Despite the weather report predicting a week-full of rainy weather, the day was reasonably bright and the water was calm. I wonder what it would be like in a storm - that little 2-car winch-ferry I was on in Lahad Datu had to defer to the raging waters and floating logs rushing downstream. This ferry, I was assured, could weather any storm and ran every day, rain or shine. It did seem tough enough.

All aboard...

Good to see inflation doesn't affect some things.

That little notice was for a Karaoke competition in a nearby town. I wonder who won...

A floating fish farm or something.

The other ferry.

After disembarking, we pressed on along a quiet, two-lane trunk road. The steady drive was periodically punctuated by narrow bailey bridges which we had to slow down to cross. If another vehicle happened along in the opposite direction, this was effected always with politeness and patience, and usually with a wave goodbye as we passed. I’ve learnt in the past few years that Sabahans and Sarawakians have a thing or two to teach Peninsular Malaysians about living in harmony - and here was evidence that the lifestyle here aids that.

An old Bailey Bridge, upgraded with a steel surface rather than two strips of planks.

A narrow bridge and patient and polite traffic on the other side.

We hired a guide at the Gunung Gading Park Entrance and he turned out to be a soft-spoken man of about 50 or so dressed in a casual shirt, tailored pants, hiking boots, a green vest and a baseball cap. He spoke with a slight accent which I initially thought was Filipino but I came to realise it’s the local accent. The three of us plus our guide were soon joined by Indiana Jones. Well, another guide who looked the part - he was dressed in khaki shorts, hiking boots, a khaki shirt, a belt with various implements hanging off it including a very local rattan basket containing… well, who knows what it contained? Poisoned darts? A small snake? Leeches? This chap seemed tough as nails and looked like he could hike over steep mountains before breakfast, snare and kill a wild boar for lunch, then swim down rapids to get home in time for an episode of ‘Survival with Ray Mears’ just to laugh at how much a pansy Mears was in comparison.

A couple of tourists accompanied this Indiana Jones and the lot of us trekked along behind our guides. The first chap pointed out various things of interest and eventually we found not just a blooming Rafflesia (about to die though), but also rotted flowers that had already died, buds that were awaiting the next stage of their lives, buds that would miss out on that next stage for whatever reason and so on.

A bit less than the 70cm they claimed I think, but still very large nonetheless.

And there's a little insect attracted by the odour, doing what it's meant to do - propagate the species for the Rafflesia.

A strange seaweed-looking plant.

Here we are all gathered around the flower.

Sharon and Mei.

The vines are tagged for easy dating and identification.

A flower that's already expired and will soon return to the soil.

And one which is about to bloom. It looks just like a loaf of bread.

This variety was not as smelly as I had thought it might be though the others detected a faint odour.

The trails in Gunung Gading are very well marked and you get a good briefing before you set off so after we’d seen a few of the plants, including a bread-loaf looking bud about to burst into a flower, we let the guide go and wandered off on our own towards one of the waterfalls. Not only are the trails well marked, they are also in a good state of repair - the wooden bits that got slippery when wet now had little wooden strips nailed into the planks at one-step-distances. These 1 cm high slats give you better purchase on the wooden surface and prevent slipping. They were also neatly painted so you could spot them easily. Some concrete-slab steps were also being replaced. All in all, a very well run park from what we could see.

The hike up was pretty challenging and even though the distance was not great, the strain was a little. We opted not to go to the higher falls which were supposedly more spectacular and stayed around Fall 1 instead. More a series of rock pools than anything, this was a nice enough spot and we stopped and had our lunch here.

A couple of HDR shots - I do like the effect.

At one point along the hike Mei and I spotted a weird multi-legged bug which was crawling on its back. Thinking it couldn’t right itself, I tried to help, but it didn’t take long before this fella was back on its back, wriggling along through the leaves right up to the water’s edge, whereupon it went straight in and was swept away. Most unusual…

We also spotted some strange formations at the exposed roots of a plant - bulbous shapes which I took to perhaps be tubers but we later found out were actually termite nests.

Here's the strange bug that insisted on moving along on its back.

After leaving the park, we stopped at a nearby town for a drink. We’d wanted to visit a couple of nearby beaches which were reputed to be beautiful but the GPS unit took us some distance away and when we arrived, told us we had to turn around as we were actually in the wrong place. We gave up and eventually drove back, boarding the ferry en route once again. Dinner was enjoyed in that night, and after 2 cans of Fosters in the two days we’d been at The Kebun, I discovered the bottle of Tuak and left the Ozzie piss alone for the rest of our stay.

Here's another bug which was rather large.

These shapes around the roots are termite nests apparently.

An HDR shot of the Park HQ.

No, I don't know why they appear in this sequence either!

More information on Gunung Gading National Park can be found here.

Kuching Part 1

In some ways this seemed to be a slightly surreal holiday. I'd come across The Kebun on Trip Advisor sometime in July and mentioned it to Mei. She was keen and contacted Adrian who said they were quite booked out until mid-October. We were quite happy to holiday then and asked a couple of friends who might be interested and finally it was Sharon who could make it.

October proved to be a busy month. I was caught up with trying sort out where Chronicle People and Hypnosis Works would operate from as our lease was expiring - all this while Johann and Joe were caught up with various other things.

Mei was busy at work and then we organised a Wong family lunch gathering at our place on the day before our departure and a dinner with Mei's dad and sister on the same day. So the holiday kinda crept up on us and seemed to lack some of the build up characterised by research and shopping that our other holidays have.

So it was that we found ourselves still packing an hour before we were due at the airport. All was right in the end and we were at the airport with enough time to have a cup of tea and a light meal. The flight in to Kuching was uneventful and as we came in we found the weather rainy - our bags were damp from having been out in the rain on the tarmac as they were unloaded.  Still, our spirits were quite sunny especially when I found a nice offer for prepaid Internet access. For RM30 I had a voice and data plan that was bound to be more than sufficient for all 3 of us.

The Kebun is owned and run by Adrian and Olivia and it was she who was at the airport to pick us up. On the 45-minute drive to The Kebun on the outskirts of Kuching, we discovered that she and Adrian have owned the place for some years. It began as a weekend retreat and stayed that way for the best part of the previous decade before they decided to turn part of it into specialty lodging about 2 years ago.

So what exactly is specialty lodging? Well, at The Kebun we got a kampung-style bungalow which was once part of a movie set - The Sleeping Dictionary, starring Jessica Alba in fact. There are 2 bungalows and a long house on the 10-acre plot - we got Olivia's Bungalow which is nearer the entrance and a little larger, with enough beds for 5 in 2 bedrooms. Adrian's Bungalow is a short walk away and has space for 4. The longhouse can hold 10 or so. All this is set in beautiful surroundings with vegetable and herb gardens, goat pens, chicken coops, enclosures for ducks, geese, guinea fowl and turkeys and even a couple of small ponds. Oh, and a little stream that ran just next to our elevated back verandah.

Adrian and Olivia do have a place to stay on the farm, for a farm is what it really is, though they actually have their home some minutes' drive away.

Our bungalow had a TV which Sharon watched news on at night, stacks of DVDs if you wish - and we didn't (why would we when we were serenaded by insect and animal sounds at night?) - a stocked fridge (soft drinks, beer, tuak, cheese, butter etc etc), a well-equipped kitchen and bedroom air-conditioning which we hardly used.

You can make your own breakfast with milk, eggs and sausages provided free. And you can have meals in as part of the package too. We usually had packed lunch which was fried noodles, fruit and vege on one day and fried rice with the same accompaniments the next, and we had dinner in too.

The Kebun is kind of like a cross between a B&B, an overseas friend's house and a small hotel. Some things you do yourself, other things you get as part of a package and some other things you pay extra for like the drinks in the fridge. Well, not the tuak which was complimentary. And which was finished not long after I discovered it…

What you probably wouldn't get anywhere else is a free GPS-equipped car as part of the package. We used this extensively and it made our holiday special and hassle-free.

What I am getting is ahead of myself, so back to our ride in from the airport. Olivia made a slight detour to a little shop where we had our first taste of Sarawak Laksa which is not at all 'lemak' like the laksas I'm more accustomed to. But it certainly was delicious.

I had the Sarawak Laksa which was delicious...

It was raining as I said and the weather report wasn't encouraging. Still, when we did get in to The Kebun, our spirits lifted and not just because the rain also did, but of course because the place is just so endearing. You turn off the main road, head towards the Matang Wildlife Centre and then turn right onto a narrow, winding, hilly road that crosses an old wooden bridge before rising up towards a peak from which you get some expansive views of the surroundings and then a metal gate and a driveway past a goat pen and a geese enclosure to your bungalow nestled amongst lush greenery. It’s a drive home I would never tire of.

The drive in to The Kebun.

A neighbour's house. We thought it was abandoned but later discovered it was not.

Olivia's Bungalow.

Olivia’s Bungalow rests on a slope with the back verandah jutting out towards a stream and the gardens and ponds behind. A deep front verandah looks up the driveway and is a comfortable place to sit and relax. A table and some chairs would be a nice place to have breakfast though we chose to have ours in the kitchen. Sitting here you’ll hear the honking of the geese and the occasional bleating of a couple of goats just a little way up the driveway - a surprisingly relaxing symphony.

The living room opens onto the verandah along one side and is a very comfortable place to sit and relax. As I mentioned, there’s a TV and music if you want, a couple of deep and ensconcing two-seater sofas and a couple of armchairs too. There are ornaments of all sorts and I suspect some of the ceramics and crockery on display are actually worth something. The ikat hanging on the wall certainly is and is protected by an acrylic sheet.

The front verandah.

Sharon and Mei in the living room. 

Getting ready for a meal in the amply-stocked kitchen. 

Remarkably though, no one bothers to lock up around here. Well, we couldn’t even if we wanted to as we never did get a front door key. Thing is that you just feel so safe - for yourself as well as your belongings.

At the far end of the living room is a little hallway with doors to the two bedrooms, a door to the only bathroom, a door through to the back verandah, and the kitchen. Every room, including the bath, was spacious enough to accord comfort and the three of us never felt helmed in at all. How could you though, when every window opened up to verdant greenery and brought in the sound of insect and bird call, the rustling of branches and leaves in the wind, and fresh air. And despite the moquettes (for which we had plenty of quite effective mosquito coils) we did leave most of the windows open most of the time.

The back verandah was a lovely place to enjoy a cigar and some tuak and to have a chat in the evenings. Which is something we did most nights.

Our bedroom which had a queen and a single bed. And a wardrobe. And a dressing table. And a baby cot. And a clothes rack... It was big...

The door to the back verandah

The back verandah.

Off the back verandah. You can see the path leading down to the stream and a hint of the gardens on the other side.

What a lovely view out one of the kitchen windows. How nice to prepare a cup of tea while looking through this window.

A little after settling in, we went for a walk and found the back path which crossed the stream or went along the fence towards Adrian’s Bungalow and the Longhouse. We took that route and also discovered a jetty and a large river at the other end of the property. A couple of workmen looked up and smiled at us as we perused their work on the worker’s quarters I think it was. And that kind of set the tone for our time in Kuching - as we were to discover, almost everyone we met was generally warm and friendly, or at least amiable.

Looking back up at Olivia's Bungalow.

'Friend' or his brother. Quite hard to tell them apart. Cute fellas who came around sometimes.

One of the ponds.

The geese next to the driveway.

The two fellas are near the geese too.

Whereas this lot were round the back in a much larger pen.

A view along the stream.

These silly guinea fowl were so nervous, all I did was swing the camera lens and they;d all scurry to one side. When I swung the lens to follow them, they all came scurrying back the other way.

Herbs and vegetables and other plants...

A couple of ducks along the stream.

The path to the jetty.

Adrian came by later that evening and he turned out to be a restless, energetic guy. Tall, loud, funny and with a glint in his eye that said in equal measure ‘Let’s have a beer’ and ‘Don’t mess with me’. I liked him immediately and when he found out later that I liked the Tuak and offered some to me to take home to Singapore, I liked him even more.

He showed us the car and clarified a few things and we started planning the next day’s itinerary - it was to be Gunung Gading and the hunt for Rafflesia.

More information on The Kebun can be found here.